Ankara

Do you like to pay way too much for mediocre food and bad service? Then this is your place! I came for brunch with a couple of Turkish friends and we were all very disappointed. The «bottomless» mimosas were pretty much always bottomed out, despite frequent requests for refills — not that it mattered much, given that they were almost entirely fake orange juice. We placed orders three to four times for each item before they were actually brought to the table. The food was mediocre at best when it actually arrived. To top it all off, we never got a final round of mimosas, even though we ordered them well before the cut off time, because they never got around to bringing them. When we asked again we were told that it was too late. There are a number of wonderful brunch options in Dupont, don’t waste your time (or money) on this place.

Love this resturant. The food is authentic and the service is great. Was so glad to find Turkish Cuisine close by. The Luhmacun is a must!

This is great turkish restaurant, i was in other turkish restaurant but didnt like it 6 months ago. If you wanna eat real and good turkish food then visit ankAra restaurant. It is almost same food as in turkey.

I am turkish and visiting dc for couple days. Everyday we went to some different restaurant and i wanted to take everyone to turkish restaurant.
The food was not bad. However the attitude of the owners were extremely rude. And the most important thing in a turkish culture is to be a very nice hosts to guests.
If you just want to eat turkish food you can have it but take to food with you somewhere else.
With this attitude there is no way they can stay in business in Turkey

Great food but the waiters were a little too much. They won’t give you five minutes to talk and took away our plates without even asking me if I was done.
The menu doesn’t look very different then the Levante

Lunch was disappointing. It was half-​assed and lacking taste. Dinner was much better and delicious. Wonderful, fresh complimentary bread served at both lunch and dinner.

Been here for the holiday lunch, nice place to hang out .lots of choice in wine, staff is too cooperative .
Most of the food resembles to middle eastern, I had chicken kabob it was yummy but still compared Mobi dick is on lower side. My friend had chicken on flat bread is just like pizza. Some of us were vegetarian they ordered cigar borge, dolmas. Overall food quality was good, I will give 4 star for ambience n wait staff.

We were invited for a private event. The restaurant took over the old Levante it looked warmer than before in terms of décor. The event took over the corner close to the kitchen. For starter, we tried the Greek sauvignon blanc it was quite good. There were the dolma and feta cheese rolls (not in phyllo) it reminded me of more like an eggroll wrapper. It still tasted good. The dolma was large in size and it was impossible to keep it on the skinnystick they gave us. A few people had theirs landed on their palm, it was soaked in oil. For dinner I had the Adana beef kebab with pita bread and yogurt sauce, it was tasty but I think I preferred the doner instead. As for the dessert I was pleasantly surprised by the light mousse of chocolate it was very tasty.

Happy Hour Review–
Named after the capital of Turkey, Ankara is one of DC’s best kept Happy Hour secrets. On the patio and at the bar from 5pm — 7pm, there are $ 3 house red and white wines, Efes beer, cider and Yuengling. They house white wine was incredible and would highly recommend. They have a bunch of great small plates that are great to pair with the happy hour specials including: Hummus, Mucver (zucchini fritters with carrots dill and parsley), Htipiti (diced roasted red pepper with feta and thyme).
A glass of wine for less than $ 5 is a rare find in DC let a lone a good glass of white that isn’t cheap pinot grigio or chardonnay. If you are in the Dupont area, this is a great option for happy hour.

We had an awesome real Turkish dinner at Ankara. What a great surprise. The sigara borek, the eggplant pide (was definitely original), and the Red Yakut wine were all amazing.

It’s nice to have a Turkish restaurant in Dupont Circle. The pitas are a bit smaller and denser, but just as delicious, as other freshly baked breads I’ve had at Mediterranean restaurants. The fact that it is (theoretically) endlessly available would be slightly more useful if they were willing to bring out more than one piece at once, but the hot temperature of the dough more than makes up for any wait. Similarly, the free oil provided for dipping the pita in is a nice, slightly peppery olive oil, something that I have not found frequently in restaurants, and an interesting break from the more buttery olive oils provided elsewhere.
The dips are decent, good and solid variations on the classics, though nothing spectacular, though I particularly enjoyed the walnut dip, muhammara. In terms of main courses, the chicken kebabs with yogurt sauce were quite tasty, particularly as the whole dish was served on a bed of pita, which had every opportunity to sop up the yogurt sauce, creating a substantial and excellent side dish.
The only thing I had trouble with was getting the attention of our servers. That, and one of the times I was there, they managed to forget one of our dishes entirely. That said, servers were responsive and helpful as soon as I managed to get their attention, and, in the case of the forgotten dish, promptly comped the dish and brought it out.

I liked this place a lot. It’s definitely a much better place from Levantes (former Turkish restaurant). I like that the kitchen is open so you can see how things are being cooked! The food is really good. The lentil soup is delicious and the sigara burek outstanding.

I was pleased with my visit, even though I didn’t order a lot of food and I was here by myself. After reading the other reviews, I am compelled to argue that Ankara can serve a slightly different client base, and maybe even recommend a focus on customers more like me.
On a unexpectedly cold and rainy night, I ran in to satisfy my lentil soup craving. The soup was delicious and was accompanied with two pieces of soft and warm bread. I appreciated the service, particularly because they made me feel welcome as a solitary, low-​purchase diner sticking around in the relatively empty section of their restaurant to study even when I let them know that was my intention. I would really like to come back to do that more often, particularly when they are not as busy and even be on their expansive patio while the weather may last.

A 10 day trip to Turkey this May left me with an itchy desire to find a decent Turkish restaurant in DC. Surprisingly, there are almost none and few I tried were ok’ish. So when Ankara opened — how timely! — I had to give it a try.
Ugh. Delicious fresh flavorful Turkish cuisine … is not served here. The excitement from reading the now familiar items on the menu disappeared after two appetizers. Bread was the most exciting thing we tried that evening. Everything else was subpar, flavorless, second hand freshness and plain boring, and not even remotely reminded me of the Turkish cuisine. Ayran — the item I am missing the most since my trip — turned to be a flat mix of yoghurt and water.
In the sea of Peruvian, Cambodian, Laotian and whatnot restaurants in DC there is still a huge hole. How come?!

The best Turkish food out of Turkey! Mercimek soup, which is made of lentils is great! I am vegetarian and their menu had a lot to offer. Eggplant and Spinach PIDE are my favorites, loads of filling and you can taste the actual flavor of each ingredient.
My husband loved their Kebabs and most of the grilled stuff.
But what really conquered me is their Baklawa! I actually saw the chef and thanked him for making my day. It is sweet and juicy and juat perfect!
Loving this place!
I wish they had traditional Turkish breakfasts as well, although they offer Weekend Brunches which supposedly should be like breakfasts in Turkey. Will go there tomorrow to try it!
Million thanks for the great experience!

My fiancé and I came her for date night on a Wednesday. We sat outside and it was beautiful. Our server was a little brusque, but very knowledgeable. Other servers came by and if we had questions that they didn’t have the answers to, they got a server who knew. On to the FOOD!
As a starter, they brought out some warm bread and yogurt based dip with red peppers. It was delicious! We ordered the cheese rolls and zucchini fritters as appetizers. The cheese rolls were the best I’ve ever had! They were not greasy and had a really good taste and texture to them. The zucchini fritters were good, but to me, just ok. My fiancé loved them!
For our entrees, we had the grilled lamb chops and Bronzino. Omg. They were DELICIOUS! I’m just going to bring back «The Bomb» bc that’s what they were! The lamb chops were grilled and seasoned to perfection! They were so tender, almost melting in my mouth. It came with rice and a salad. I didn’t even touch those bc I wanted nothing to take me from those chops! The Bronzino was delicious also and so fresh with the vegetables! Best entrees ever!
For dessert we had the dessert that’s similar to a crème brûlée (so said the server). It doesn’t have the crusted top, so it’s certainly more of a flan than anything. That was really good and had a mild taste. To top that off, we had Turkish tea, which was quite similar to Lipton, lol, but tasted nice with the Turkish sugar provided.
Overall, this was a WONDERFUL experience at Ankara and I definitely go back!

I was so thrilled when I heard Ankara was opening, but nothing that I sampled tonight captured my attention.
We ordered two cold appetizers — the red lentil and bulgur kofte which was completely tasteless, and the eggplant with diced tomatoes, garlic, onions, and parsley (you guessed it– tasteless). As an aside, these cold appetizers are actually cold, not room-​temperature. Both felt a bit like eating something that still had a refrigerator chill. We also had two warm appetizers — the grilled cauliflower in yogurt sauce (also tasteless), and the only thing we sampled that had flavor was the baked shrimp with garlic which came gambas al ajillo style. (We had actually wanted the mussels and the waiter said «we no longer serve them!» I asked «didn’t you just open?» and he said «get the shrimp.») The very best thing we sampled this evening was the bread which comes close to Zaytinya’s famed bread, and is served with a dollop of hummus, olive oil, and olives.
The space is as sterile and tasteless as the food — it feels like it was decorated in corporate blandness with art that rivals your local Hilton’s. The worst part of the evening was our brusque server who rushed us to order by telling us the kitchen would get backed up (we thought that was odd since we arrived at 5:30 and the restaurant was empty). He also never offered us dessert (does Ankara serve dessert? I don’t even know!) and otherwise ignored us all evening.
My advice: walk a few blocks to Agora.

I would give Ankara 1 star, but I know it just opened, so I will be a little easy.
I will cut her some slack because the restaurant is so new, but our waitress didn’t know anything about the menu. She couldn’t answer ANY of our questions (or answered them, but you knew she was just guessing). She also wasn’t super attentive.
I hope that as she gains more experience, many of these problems will be fixed.
These issues could have been ignored if the food was really good. It wasn’t. I thought it was just okay and over priced.
To make matters worse, when we got the bill, we were overcharged $ 12. It got corrected, but I’m lucky I caught it.
I will not be going back to Ankara.

Ankara is a Turkish/​Mediterranean restaurant with a bar and lots of seating. It has just been redone so everything feels pretty clean.
I came here with two friends for happy hour and dinner recently and we sat at the bar. Pretty standard HH menu: $ 6 for house wines and $ 8 for rail drinks. HH appetizers ranged from $ 5-​$ 7. We ordered the Htipiti to start — a spread with red peppers and feta cheese, which came with pita bread ($ 5).
Next, we each decided to order two starters as our main courses. I ordered the Shepherd’s Salad ($ 7) and the garlic shrimp ($ 11), and my friends ordered the orange salad ($ 8) and the zucchini and herb cakes ($ 8). I think the portions were a little small for the price. My shrimp dish only had four shrimps in it and I was hardly full. The salad was also pretty plain.
With tax and tip, I ended up spending upwards of $ 40. Pretty standard in DC when you are ordering mezze/​tapas style food. I would come back but maybe just for HH.

With the return of warm weather, a large patio just off Dupont Circle with a Mediterranean menu comes just in time! Honestly, Ankara wasn’t ALL TOO different from Levante’s, which previously occupied the spot — the interior has been renovated, the menu is slightly different (it now includes an entrée section).
We started with the cheese plate, which included one very salty (though tasty) cheese– tasted similar to haloumi. We then shared the cauliflower (just okay), and the shrimp (good, but wouldn’t blow you away).
For dinner, I enjoyed the arugula salad (simple but flavorful), and the Sucuklu Pide (sausage flatbread) — my favorite dish!
The warm pita bread was plentiful and the service attentive and friendly.